Forging Bonds
by Kaizoku no Kazoku
Summary: As Zoro awakens from a coma caused by a bout with meningitis, he finds that the disease has taken his hearing. The one person who comforts him is the one he least expected to do so. Will be Sanji/Zoro shounen ai. May be yaoi much later, but I'm not sure. ukeZoro
1. World Of Silence

**I've watched One Piece for a while, but this is the first time I've posted a fic in the fandom. Please be gentle (though I can handle constructive crit)**

* * *

The first thing Zoro noticed when he regained consciousness, was that the ship was quiet, eerily so. He couldn't hear his crewmates muffled voices beyond the infirmary door, nor were the everyday sounds, like the waves crashing against the hull, and the subtle sound of the air moving through the ventilation system, present.

A little quiet never hurt anyone, but Zoro knew in his gut that something was wrong. He glanced over to his right with his good eye to see Chopper dozing in a chair beside him, sleeping so quietly, Zoro couldn't even hear his soft snores. Zoro weakly rolled over onto his side, and noted the lack of rustle from the bedsheets.

He frowned in confusion. What was going on?

He turned his attention again to Chopper. Would the doctor have answers for him? He called out to the reindeer doctor... or at least he _thought_ he had, but he couldn't even hear his own voice. For one of the very few times in his life, fear knifed through his heart. Had he... lost his hearing?

Chopper was awake, switched to heavy-point, and at Zoro's side in an eye blink. He was excitedly saying something, but Zoro couldn't make out what it was. The doctor went to the door, then slowly, the rest of the crew filed in, with the exception of Luffy, who ran up to Zoro's bed.

Luffy's smiling lips were moving, but no sound came forth, confirming what Zoro already knew. Luffy was speaking so quickly that Zoro had no hope of deciphering his lip movements. Zoro frowned, and as a last resort, he stuck a finger in his left ear, jiggling it around vigorously before removing it.

No change.

Luffy turned worriedly to Chopper, pointing at Zoro; his lips moving in the now familiar rapid fashion. Chopper, who now had a concerned look on his face as well, answered what had presumebly been a question from Luffy. Then Chopper turned, searched through a drawer, and pulled out a pen and pad, writing something down on the paper. He showed it to Zoro. It read in bold black letters:

'Zoro, can you hear us?'

Zoro closed his eye, and sighed. Though Chopper was his nakama, he really didn't want to admit to something that could be seen as a weakness by his enemies.

And then there was Sanji, who'd laughed at his expense in Thriller Bark when Perona's ghost had made him say something he'd later wished he hadn't. No. He definitely wasn't in the mood to be taunted by the blond.

He really didn't want to answer that question with everyone in the room watching him, anticipating the answer. Chopper put down the pad and appeared to direct everyone from the room. Zoro's thoughts were confirmed as everyone slowly started to file back out of the room. Sanji paused and turned back for a second, just before walking through the door of the infirmary. Was that concern Zoro saw on his face? He couldn't be sure.

When the last of their crewmates had gone, and the door was shut to give them some privacy, Chopper turned back to his patient. He'd have to run some tests on Zoro to determine the extent of his hearing loss. Hopefully, the results would be at least somewhat favorable.

* * *

Sanji sat on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny, taking a slow drag off his cigarette. He began to relax as the nicotine circulated throughout his body. On the outside, he appeared to dislike the Marimo, always teasing, taunting, and bickering with him. But deep down inside, he actually cared for and respected Zoro. The teasing and arguing was, in a way, all just a facade to disguise how he really felt.

He really didn't dislike Zoro, the swordsman was his nakama after all. And he couldn't hate a nakama. If he hated him, they wouldn't _be_ nakama.

Sanji sighed, closing his eyes. Zoro had suffered a serious bout of meningitis not too long ago, and was just coming out of his two-week long coma. Chopper had said that one of the after-effects of the disease was hearing loss, along with vision loss and brain damage. It didn't appear that he'd suffered either of the latter two, though it may have been too early to tell, but the hearing loss? From what little he'd seen from the interaction Luffy and Chopper had had with him, Zoro not only suffered hearing loss, but hearing loss in the profound sense.

Sanji wondered, as he took another long drag from his cigarette, how Zoro would cope with such a loss. Would he need help with some things? And, if so, how was that going to affect his pride? Like Sanji, Zoro was a proud, confident, independent man. He wouldn't want people to treat him any differently just because of something like this. He'd know that they meant well, but if anything, it would just make him angry and hurt his pride. He'd be ashamed of what he would probably come to see as a weakness.

No.

Best just to treat him normally.

Zoro would probably be in the infirmary for at least the next few days. He, on the other hand, needed to have a talk with their nakama.

* * *

Chopper sighed as he put away his test instruments. Everything he'd tried on Zoro had had negative results. Zoro's hearing loss was apparently complete and, as he'd told Zoro, likely to be permanent. As expected, the green-haired man hadn't taken the news well. He'd become upset and withdrawn. Chopper decided to leave him alone for a while. He hadn't meant to upset Zoro, but he wasn't about to lie to his patient either.

He covered Zoro up to his chest, gave him specific instructions not to leave the infirmary under any circumstances, after all, he was still recovering, then Chopper left the room.

Zoro loosely lay an arm over his forehead, thinking. The lights were dimmed because he was still sensitive to them, but he closed his eye anyway.

He hated being sick. Falling ill meant that he was still not strong enough. He couldn't wait to get back to his training. According to Chopper, he'd spent nearly three weeks sick in the infirmary. Three weeks too long. His strength was going to suffer as a result. He really needed to train himself back up to his usual level.

Chopper had expressly told him not to leave the infirmary. Maybe he could sneak back up to his training area, then sneak back in here later for bed. He turned back over on his side, then sat up weakly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He sat for a minute, regaining his equilibrium. He took a deep breath, then forced himself to stand.

Taking slow, shuffling steps to the door of the infirmary, he wondered how he'd let himself get so weak. Just walking to the door was tiring him out.

He leaned against the wall next to the door, and it was a good thing he did, because Chopper burst in just then.

"And I just _told_ you!"

* * *

The chains holding him in the bed weren't _too_ uncomfortable, he just wished he had one of his swords so that he could slice through them and get out of here. Didn't anyone understand the importance of him getting himself back into shape? He was fine now! He wasn't sick anymore! He was weak from lack of training! Couldn't they see?

Zoro struggled against his bonds. Chopper and Robin had made sure to wrap him in several layers of chain. They'd been too smart to use rope, which he'd have been able to tear as if it were wet tissue paper. He stopped, took a deep breath, and let it out, trying to calm himself.

He'd just settled down to try to sleep when a familiar head of blond popped into the doorway. Zoro hated for Sanji to see him like this, he was sure that he would crack up laughing like he had back in Thriller Bark. Instead, the blond walked calmly over to the bed, and sat down in a nearby chair. Zoro noticed that he lacked the cigarette he was usually perpetually smoking.

Sanji turned to the green-haired swordsman, and speaking slowly where Zoro could read his lips, he asked, "So... What was the deal with you trying to leave the infirmary?"

Zoro frowned, and didn't answer.

Sanji went on. "You know you're still recovering, right?" When Zoro again said nothing, Sanji continued. "That disease could have _killed_ you. You need to give yourself time to recover. This crew needs you... you're our nakama."

Zoro's good eye widened in surprise. He couldn't remember a time when Sanji had referred to he and Zoro as being nakama.

"We want you to get better," Sanji confessed; his cheeks reddening a bit. "We _need_ you to get better... _I_ need you to get better..." He trailed off, noticing the even more surprised look on Zoro's face.

"Yeah, I said it!" Sanji shouted even though he knew Zoro couldn't hear him. "I need you. Even when it doesn't seem like it, you're important to me. Too important to me to lose... So you stay in here and stick to recovering, after that, then and only then you can return to your bonehead training workouts."

Zoro regained his composure and couldn't help a slight smirk. While Sanji's words had made him feel better, he was somewhat hesitant to believe them. "I never thought I'd he- receive words like that from you." He paused for a moment, taking another deep breath, then he continued. "I'm not going to promise that I'll stay here any longer than I have to. But... I guess I could stay for a little longer."

Sanji walked over to the bed, and bent down, tapping the chains around Zoro's body. "You'll stay here as long as you need to. And that'll be until Chopper clears you for release."

Zoro frowned, but realized that there was nothing he could do but comply for now. He sighed.

He _really_ hated being sick.

* * *

**If you like, please R & R. Will probably post the next chapter next week ^_^**


	2. Conversation Over Sake

**I forgot to mention in the last chapter that this fic takes place sometime after the timeskip. I don't read the manga though, just watch the anime, so I'm not sure where to place it, it's just "sometime after the timeskip". **

**Sanji and Zoro's relationship is going to evolve slowly, involving feelings that deepen over time. Just letting you know.**

**Oh, and this'll be ukeZoro for the most part :-D**

* * *

It had been several days since he'd been released from the infirmary of the Thousand Sunny, and Zoro was about to go insane. As if his hearing loss wasn't bad enough, everywhere on the ship he went, his crewmates were trying to help or assist him in some way.

He was only Deaf for godssake, he wasn't missing four limbs!

Granted, Sanji was constantly yelling at them, trying to get them to stop the behaviour from what Zoro could tell. They'd try to treat him normally for a while afterwards, only to go back to being all-too-helpful again. He was starting to really hate losing his hearing.

Having lost his hearing like he had, everything was silent inside his head, and he found himself missing the everyday sounds of the ship. He missed the voices of his crewmates, especially, he realized, Luffy's, Usopp's, and Chopper's. When they were laughing and having fun, not being able to hear them anymore was especially hard.

Sound was becoming patchy in his dreams. Some dreams had sound, others didn't, and even in the ones that did, it fluctuated between sound and complete silence. He realized that it wouldn't be long before deafness would become so much a part of him that he'd only have vague memories of sound.

Damnit, and he only had one working eye too, now this!

He bench-pressed his 500 lb. barbell for the thousandth time, then put it down. Chopper had told him no heavy lifting until he was completely better and strong enough to lift more, so 500 lbs. would have to do for now.

He sat up after a while, drying his face with a towel. As he stood and moved toward one of the windows, he thought about what Sanji had said that day in the infirmary. Until that day, he hadn't thought that the blonde had felt that way. He had secretly liked Sanji, but when the blonde man had taunted him, he'd given just as good as he got, never having any clue that Sanji had liked him.

He sat down, sighing deeply, lowering his head. He, Roronoa Zoro, was an important person to Sanji... And if he searched deep within his own soul, he had to admit that Sanji was important to him too.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zoro saw movement, and turned to see Sanji walking slowly toward him with a bottle of sake in each hand. Damn, he wished he could hear again!

Sanji could see frustration etched onto his nakama's face, but he didn't believe it to be directed at him. Zoro had grown increasingly frustrated as of late by his deafness, and the treatment he was getting as a result of it. He was slowly, ever so slowly, adjusting to his new life as a Deaf individual, but he was doing it because he had to, not because he wanted to.

He sat next to Zoro, handing the green-haired man one of the bottles. By the look on Zoro's face, he could use the drink, and the company. Zoro accepted it gratefully, popping out the cork and taking a long swig. He set the bottle on his thigh, gazing out of the window.

"What I'm about to tell you..." Zoro started. Then he looked sharply at the blonde. "Is for your ears only."

Sanji nodded once.

Zoro suddenly rubbed his face, sighing. "You know I can't even hear my own voice anymore, right?" He took another long swig of his favorite alcohol.

Sanji nodded again, listening intently.

"In my head... there's this complete silence," Zoro stated, face calm, but inwardly angry. "I can't hear _anything_ anymore. I hate this. If that disease had been a physical enemy..." He scowled, looking down at the hand that wasn't holding the bottle. He then took a third drink, nearly guzzling it. He could feel the pleasant warmth of the liquid as it slid down his throat, and little by little, it was taking some of his pain away.

Sanji understood what Zoro left unsaid. Had the disease been a physical enemy, Zoro could have slain it, easily. The fact that it wasn't, and that it had almost killed him... Well, that weighed heavily on the green-haired man's mind. Not only had the disease nearly won a battle against Zoro, it left him with what Zoro saw as a permanent weakness.

He'd known this would happen. He'd known Zoro would begin to think that way, just not this soon.

"Zoro..." Sanji started. But Zoro continued.

"Everyone's been treating me differently since my illness. Like I can no longer do anything for myself. Even _you_ treat me differently."

This surprised Sanji. "Me? I don't treat you like an invalid!"

"No, but..." Zoro smirked bitterly. "What happened to calling me 'Marimo'? Now you just call me Zoro."

"U-um..." Sanji stammered. He hadn't even realized that he'd quit referring to his nakama by that nickname.

"Anyway..." Zoro took another long drink which left only about a fourth of the liquor in the bottom of the bottle. "Forget about it."

"Forget about what?"

"I don't care what you call me." Zoro drained the rest of his bottle, then continued. "If you want to call me Marimo, go ahead, but if Zoro's your new thing, then that's okay too."

Though Zoro didn't smile, Sanji knew that he meant that in a friendly way.

Zoro's voice brought Sanji out of his reverie. "You gonna drink that?"

Sanji looked down at the untouched bottle in his hand. He'd meant to drink with Zoro while he listened to his problems. He'd been so engaged in the conversation, that he'd completely forgotten it. "No, not now I guess..."

A wry grin turned up one corner of Zoro's mouth, as he stuck out his hand for the bottle. Sanji handed it to him.

"Thanks." This time Zoro smiled a rarely seen real smile and Sanji knew that the thanks was not just for the sake.


	3. The Good Qualities Of Zoro

**I know some of you are wondering how Zoro's so good at lip-reading. I wrote the story that way since it would be tedious to write him not understanding what was said to him half the time, which would have then been cumbersome to read. So, for the purposes of the story, he can lip-read well. Hope no one minds.**

**BTW, since I can't write a fight scene to save my life, I've decided to gloss over and summarize that part in the begin of this chapter**

* * *

On the way to the ship's kitchen, Sanji exhaled a stream of smoke which was partly a sigh of relief. The Strawhat Crew had had another run in with the Navy a while back as they were replenishing supplies. While Zoro had fought his best, as he always had, more than a few of the marines had nearly discovered his newfound deafness. Luckily, Sanji thought to fight back-to-back with Zoro to minimize any attacks from behind. If they'd realized that Zoro was no longer able to hear anything...

Sanji shook his head, resolving that, from now on, whenever they had to battle, he'd be Zoro's ears.

This didn't mean that he wouldn't treat Zoro normally otherwise. After all, he was the only one who'd treated him as if he were the same Zoro he always was. But Sanji did not want Zoro to fall in battle just because of his deafness. That would be a blow to his warrior's pride.

They'd had a good haul of shrimp earlier today, so he'd decided to make all manner of shrimp dishes, including a new shimp scampi recipe he'd wanted to try. As he was gathering his cookware to make the feast, he heard a knock on the door of the kitchen.

"Come in," he said, waiting a few seconds. When no one entered, Sanji realized it was most likely Zoro. 'Probably here to jump onto me about earlier' he thought. But he didn't regret his actions. Not one single bit. He went to open the door.

Zoro indeed stood there with two bottles of sake in hand; a frustrated look on his face. The green-haired man handed Sanji both bottles. As he walked towards a chair inside the kitchen, he said, "To repay you for last week."

Sanji waited until Zoro was facing him again before he spoke. "Oh, you didn't have-"

"I wanted to." Zoro interrupted, sitting back in the chair; arms and legs crossed.

"Alright then. So what's got you so frustrated?" Sanji asked, making sure Zoro could see his face. He put down the bottles in a wine rack before going back to gathering his cookware.

"Everyone," Zoro said simply. He sighed heavily. "Franky and Robin aren't so bad, but the others? They just... It just doesn't stop! When will they realize that deafness doesn't make me some sort of baby who can do nothing for himself? I'm tired of that! I never thought I'd say this, but I could use your company for a while. You of all people, treat me normally. Mind if I stay here?"

Sanji turned to Zoro. "I don't mind."

Relief graced Zoro's features, and he smiled a small smile that Sanji would've thought of as shy had the smile not belonged to a formidable swordsman. "Thanks."

"No problem." Sanji gave a reassuring smile of his own before starting on his cooking. After a moment, he said, "I must admit that when you first came in here, I thought that it was to chew me out about helping you in your fight earlier. It's something I don't regret though. I'd do it again in a hartbeat."

"I can fight my own battles," Zoro stated, but without any trace of annoyance or arrogance. "Normally anyway. But you came through when I really needed someone to help though. Thanks Sanji."

'He's been thanking me a lot lately' Sanji thought, but didn't voice it. This was very unusual for Zoro. Was it because he lost his hearing or because he nearly lost his life to that disease and was becoming a different person as a result of getting a new lease on life? Sanji could only wonder.

"As I told you, it's no problem," he said, smiling at the swordsman.

Zoro sat quietly, relaxing in the company of a person he'd once thought of as an annoyance. Now though, since the two had unwittingly forged somewhat of a bond, Zoro found comfort in the other man's presence.

Sanji realized that one of the things he actually liked about Zoro, was that, when they weren't battling some enemy, Zoro was quiet, kept to himself when he wasn't needed, and didn't knowingly, or unknowingly, annoy others. 'The exact opposite of Luffy.' he thought, chuckling to himself.

Zoro was also dependable, well-reasoned, and strong-willed. He possessed great strength and could be a frightening opponent... yet children seemed to love him. They were never afraid of him. Maybe they knew how kind-hearted he could be.

He looked over to Zoro, and noted that the green-haired man was relaxed, with his eyes closed. Sanji could tell that Zoro wasn't asleep though, just relaxed, as if being with him and away from the way-too-helpfulness of the others was calming to him.

He decided to leave Zoro alone for now as he made the sauce for the shrimp scampi. He'd have another talk with the others later.

* * *

Sanji smiled as he took small samplings of his developing masterpieces. The scampi and other shrimp dishes smelled and tasted delicious. They were going to have a feast tonight! He'd made enough to satisfy even _Luffy's _enormous appetite.

He looked over to where Zoro was slumped in the chair, having fallen asleep since their conversation earlier. Sanji spooned some scampi onto a small salad plate and walked over to him. He slowly ran the plate under the swordman's nose, and watched as the man stirred. Sleepy eyes opened, and Sanji said, "A little snack before dinner."

Zoro awoke completely; Sanji handing him the plate and a pair of chopsticks. He tasted a piece of shrimp. Unbeknownst to himself, Zoro blushed as he stated, "This is really good." He wasn't used to complimenting the cook, but now, he saw no reason not to.

"You're blushing," Sanji pointed out, smiling slyly and tapping Zoro's cheek.

Zoro scowled a bit, looking away, giving no answer.

Sanji left Zoro to finish eating, moving back to the stove to finish his cooking. It was a while before Zoro spoke again.

"When did you first realize how you... felt about me?" Zoro asked, brow furrowing.

Sanji thought for a minute, trying to formulate his answer. "I guess... I got the first stirrings of it in Thriller Bark, after what you'd done for our Captain... But it was really when we were about to lose you to Kizaru on Shabondy... that I really realized how I felt." Sanji paused, then continued. "Me taunting and teasing you all the time was just to hide how I felt."

"It worked, because until the day I woke up in the infirmary, I never realized that you'd felt that way about me. I thought you loved Nami and Robin, and hated me." Zoro's brow furrowed as he said the last few words.

"I could never hate a nakama," Sanji truthfully stated. "Especially one with so many great qualities." He stabbed out his cigarette in an ashtray near the sink, and leaned against it.

Zoro was honestly surprised. "_You_ think _I_ have great qualities?"

"Yes! I do!" Sanji exclaimed. "Why? Don't you believe you do?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "I just didn't think you'd see anything you liked in me."

"Please! There are plenty of things to like about you," Sanji declared.

"Name one," Zoro challenged, sitting up in his chair again.

Sanji began, "Well, you're quiet and peaceful to be around, you don't go around sticking your nose in other people's business, and you don't annoy others like someone else we know..."

Zoro smiled, thinking of Luffy as Sanji had earlier.

"You're such a reliable, dependable person. You're kind-hearted but strong at the same time. You know how to get the crew to rally behind our Captain. There are a lot of great things about you that I like."

Zoro sighed, wishing to actually be able to hear Sanji say these things, instead of just reading them from the blonde man's lips. "I wish you hadn't waited until I was deaf to tell me these things."

"So do I, Zoro," Sanji admitted with a wistful sigh. "So do I."

* * *

**Just putting some finishing touches on Chapter 4, then it'll be posted in the next few days. Don't know when I'll be able to post Chapter 5 though :-(**


	4. Wouldn't Trade Them for the World

**To the readers who have reviewed so far, thank you so much! **

**I realized just as I was about to post this chapter, that it has some similarities to Chapter 2. I've decided to post it anyway, as Sanji and Zoro start to become closer in this chapter. I have no idea when the next chapter will be out as I haven't even been able to start it :-(**

**Credit to XXCaptainUsoppXX for the part about Usopp's sense of self-preservation :-)**

**cb O chan: I tried to reply to your review but I guess it didn't go through. Please PM me more details about your idea and I'll try to write it in the next chapter and credit you :-) Thank you! :-)**

* * *

Zoro sat at the dinnertable partaking, as were the others, in the delicious food and drink that were provided. Along with the shrimp scampi, there was shrimp alfredo, shrimp pizza, shrimp sandwiches, shrimp salad, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp skewers, and surf-and-turf.

Zoro enjoyed the feast with his friends, despite the fact that the isolation he felt as a result of losing his hearing was growing ever deeper. He felt sometimes as if he were in a soundless void with no way out where even his own voice couldn't reach him.

But, in a way, he was.

He noticed that since his recovery, Luffy no longer stole from his plate anymore, though he continued to do so to all the other men at the table. At first he hadn't minded, but over the past two weeks since he'd been out of the infirmary, any return to normal would have been welcome. They kept on babying him, with no regard to how he felt about it. He was trying to keep from losing it and yelling at them to stop, but his patience was growing thinner with each incident.

As he finished eating, he put down his fork on his plate and sat back; hand on belly. He couldn't really engage in the conversation because so many mouths were moving, so he just relaxed in the company of his nakama.

Things were going great until it came time to clear the table and clean up after dinner. Luffy and Nami had each picked up Zoro's plate and were apparently arguing as to who would clean up after him.

"I can clear my own dishes," Zoro stated quietly, just managing to hold back his building anger. "I don't need any help." He grabbed the dish the other two were firmly holding onto.

"But Zoro," Luffy said, slowly enough for Zoro to read what his lips were saying. "We wanna help you!" Luffy tugged on the dish again, making it nearly slip out of Zoro's hands.

"He's right," Nami chimed in. "You should go get some rest. We can handle this."

It was at that point that Zoro's patience snapped, and his anger bubbled over. "What is it with you all? Stop treating me like some invalid who you can just coddle and baby! I'm Deaf! It only means I can't hear! It does _not_ mean I can't do for myself! _You_ try being in my shoes for a day, and see how you feel!"

"Zoro-" Luffy, who'd fallen backward when Zoro had let go of the plate, started, but was cut off by the green-haired man.

"You know what? Just leave me alone." Zoro ground out, then turned on his heel, storming out of the dining area. A few seconds later the door was slammed so hard the others could feel the force of it.

"What got into him all of a sudden?" Nami asked angrily. "We were just trying to help. How ungrateful can you get?"

"He's not ungrateful, and he's been holding in his anger for a long time," Sanji pointed out, entering the dining area from the kitchen. "How would all of you feel if you were forced to live in a world of permanent silence, and were treated differently by your friends because of it? How would you feel if your requests to be treated normally went repeatedly ignored? You're not respecting what he wants by ignoring what it is he wants. You're not respecting _him_."

"I never really thought of it that way..." Nami said thoughtfully. "I guess we've just been so eager to help him, that we didn't stop to think about how he might feel about it."

"If or when he needs our help, he'll probably as-, well no, he probably wouldn't ask, but he'd let us know in his own way," Sanji reasoned, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag. "So let's just wait until that time comes, okay?"

The others reluctantly agreed.

* * *

The night sky was filled with hundreds of points of light and a cool breeze blew through his hair as Zoro lay on the grassy deck; arms behind his head. Here, he could relax without having to worry about his nakamas' misguided attempts to help him with everything. He just wished that he had a bottle of sake, and Sanji to spend some time with. Oh well, Sanji couldn't spend _all_ his time with him. He had a lot to clean up too. It was a lot of food to store and a lot of dishes to wash. Maybe he should go help him.

Just as he was about to get up, Sanji appeared upside-down in his line of vision. "Sanji..."

"Hey." Sanji smiled, as he moved to sit beside Zoro, back against the hull. Zoro noticed that he carried four bottles of sake, two in each hand. He sat up, scooting back until he sat against the hull too.

"I thought... What about the kitchen?" he asked puzzled.

"Nami and Robin offered to take care of that," Sanji replied as he handed Zoro two of the bottles. He popped the cork on one of his own and took a swallow.

"Thanks," Zoro said gratefully, popping the cork on his. He took a long drink, then said, "This is some of the best I've tasted. Where'd you get it?"

"I made sure I stocked up on the last supply run we made," Sanji said, taking another swallow.

"This is good stuff. Have to make sure we go there again someday," Zoro commented as he took another swig.

"There's plenty more where that came from," Sanji assured him.

They were silent for a while, each enjoying the other's company. For Zoro, it was ironic that the one crewmate he'd once found highly annoying was the one with whom he now sought comfort.

Sanji noted the troubled look on the face of a man who was usually good at keeping his emotions hidden. He lay his hand on Zoro's shoulder. When the swordsman looked into his face, he said, "They mean well. They really do."

Zoro sighed. "I know they do. It's just that... they want to help me with _everything_. Even things I need no help with." He took a long swig of the alcohol, then swirled it around in the bottle.

"I had a talk with them before I came out here," Sanji said, lifting the bottle to his lips. "I think they'll respect your feelings from now on. And if they don't..." Sanji paused, taking a swig from the bottle, then a drag from his cigarette. "I'll kick their asses."

Zoro couldn't help but snicker at that. "Except Nami."

Sanji grinned. "Yeah, Nami could kick _all_ our asses."

"Usopp's the only one of us who'd stay out of her way," Zoro commented with a smirk.

"'Cause he's the only one of us besides Chopper with a sense of self-preservation," Sanji agreed.

Zoro laughed heartily, something he rarely did. His laughter died down after a moment, until only a silent smile remained on his face. "That Chopper. If it hadn't been for his expertise in treating me..."

Sanji understood the part that had been left unsaid. "Chopper's incredible, isn't he?"

"The best," Zoro concurred. "We have a sometimes-nutty-sometimes-practical bunch of nakama... and I wouldn't trade them for the world," he said sincerely. He gazed at his first sake bottle, and noticed that the liquid inside was nearly gone. Unable to remember when he'd drunk it all, he drained it, then popped the cork on the second one. He relished the smell and taste of the golden liquid as he took several swallows.

Sanji marvelled at how much sake Zoro could put away, noting that he could probably drink anyone under the table. He, on the other hand, was only halfway through his first bottle.

Sanji noticed that as Zoro slowly drained the second bottle, his features melted into a more relaxed expression. Sanji was feeling more relaxed too. He hesitantly draped an arm around Zoro's shoulders. To his surprise, the swordsman moved closer, and Zoro mumbled something.

"What?" Sanji asked, but Zoro's eye had closed. After a while, Zoro's head started to droop as sleep overtook him. Sanji gently guided the other man's head to lie on his shoulder. He ran a hand through the light green hair and was surprised at how silky it was. It felt like cashmere. Sanji's own hair was soft, but not like this. He smiled as he gently pulled Zoro even closer, then closed his own eyes.

* * *

**Zoro's hearing loss will most likely be permanent. The only way I know to regain hearing after something like this is a cochlear implant, and as far as I know, they don't have them in the One Piece universe... But I could be wrong**


	5. Babbling Brook & The Rhythm Of Things

**This chapter is dedicated to cb O chan, who asked me to write it for her, then gave me a detailed summary of it to help me along. I've never written Brook before, and hope I didn't eff him up too badly. I hope this chapter will be a good one. I feel I could have written it better, but how, I really don't know. It's kind of a dilemma.**

**Also, I know it seems like I'm making it look like there's something wrong with deafness, and that it's something bad. It's not. If a Deaf individual is happy the way he/she is, then more power to them (sorry about the cliche). Zoro, on the other hand, since deafness is new to him and he wasn't born that way (nor did he acquire it as a young child), he feels as if it's a terrible thing to happen to him. It isolates him from his nakama-tachi, and generally makes life harder for him. **

**Tonikaku, here is the chapter. Please let me know how you like it in a review:**

* * *

Luffy had decided to throw a party which was right now in full swing. Good food and drink were flowing, and the music was bright and lively. Chopper and Luffy were doing the nose chopstick routine that he himself never really understood the appeal of, and nearly everyone was laughing and generally in good spirits.

Sanji noted that Zoro barely cracked a smile during the party, or even converse much with anyone, especially Brook. Sanji noticed that whenever Brook would try to converse with him, Zoro would get a troubled and confused look on his face, before eventually turning away embarrassed and frustrated. He realized that not only could Zoro not hear the music of the party, but because Brook lacked lips, Zoro had no clue whatsoever as to what the skeleton was saying to him.

His suspicions were confirmed when Brook pulled him aside that night as he was putting away food and washing dishes.

"Sanji-san?" The living skeleton asked as he sat down in the chair in the kitchen.

Sanji stopped washing for now and dried his hands on a towel. He knew this was important. "Yeah?"

"I... I've been feeling alienated from Zoro-san ever since he woke from his coma. He's actually been kind of distant since then, and doesn't respond to anything I say to him. I just wonder if there may have been anything I may have done to upset him."

Sanji took a drag off his cigarette, thinking. "Actually, I don't think it's anything like that at all. But I'll need to ask Zoro to be sure."

Relief flooded through Brook's bony frame. "Thank you so much, Sanji-san."

* * *

Sanji found Zoro in the men's hammock room removing his boots and getting ready for bed. He couldn't help but notice the look of peace that settled on Zoro's face when Sanji walked in.

"Hey, Zoro," Sanji began as he sat beside his green-haired nakama. "I need to ask you something."

"I didn't really enjoy the party, if that's what you want to know..." Zoro said as he removed his second boot.

Sanji waited until Zoro was looking at his lips again before saying, "It's not really about that... Well, actually it is... sort of. Brook talked to me earlier, and he said that you seemed distant, and won't respond to anything he says. He was worried that you might be upset with him or something. I could kind of figure out where he was headed though, I just wanted to confirm what I knew."

Zoro squeezed a tired eye shut, and rubbed his face with one hand. It was a minute before he answered. He sighed. "I just... find it difficult to face Brook. He doesn't have lips I can read so I'll never understand what he says anymore, and I won't ever hear his music again. I don't mean to make him feel bad... it's just been... hard."

Having not had his hearing stolen as Zoro had, Sanji couldn't really say he understood what the other man was going through, but he could _be_ there for Zoro. "Hmm... Maybe your ears will recover someday." He didn't think it likely, but he could give his Deaf nakama some encouragement. "Anyway, we'll figure something out soon. Get some sleep, Marimo." He smiled as he stood up again.

Zoro smiled at the use of the familiar nickname as he lay back with his hands behind his head.

* * *

Zoro walked up from below deck in the early hours before everyone else had awoken, to find Brook sitting against the railing, appearing to play a slow, but rhythmic tune on his violin. Having nothing else to do, and wanting some company since Sanji wasn't yet up, he asked, "Mind if I sit here?"

Brook only shook his skull as he continued to play. Zoro sat next to the skeleton, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, Brook looked over to Zoro, only to see him tapping his fingers against his thigh to the melody of the instument. Brook frowned (though he had no eyebrows), thinking that this was strange. If Zoro couldn't hear, which it was well known by now among the crew that he couldn't, how was he able to tap out the rhythm of the song?

Brook gently nudged the swordsman who opened his eyes and looked up at him. Overjoyed, Brook exclaimed, "Zoro-san! You're tapping your fingers to the music! Does this mean you can hear it again?" Brooks face fell as Zoro once again gave the skeleton the same confused look as always.

Sanji, who'd awoken shortly after Zoro, had seen the entire exchange. He climbed up on deck, "He's unfortunately still deaf, Brook."

Brook turned to the sound of the younger man's voice. Watching Brook, Zoro did the same.

"And because you have no lips, he can't understand what you say to him. Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear." Sanji said as he sat in front of the swordsman and the musician. "I think I know what's going on though. Play your song again Brook."

Brook nodded, picking up his violin, and pressing the fiddle to the strings. The slow rhythm wound through the air as he played.

"Okay, lean against the railing." Sanji ordered, and Brook, who was beginning to catch on, did as he was told.

It wasn't too long before Zoro started tapping his fingers again. Sanji thrust his hand between his two nakama to touch the railing.

"It's this. The vibration through the railing. Zoro can't _hear_ the music, but he can _feel_ it. Try playing something faster now." Sanji directed again, and as the music sped up, so did Zoro's fingers. Brook realized that his connection through music with his green-haired swordsman nakama was still intact, and it made his heart swell with joy (though he had no heart to swell). He and Zoro looked at each other, and smiled happily. There was musical communication between them again.

Sanji stood up, dusting off his pants. "I'm gonna go cook breakfast now, since our garbage disposal lunkhead of a captain should be waking up soon." Sanji smiled. "Before I go though, here." He dug in his pocket, and tossed Brook a small pad of paper and a pencil, which the skeleton caught gratefully in his bone hands. "To make communicating with Marimo easier for you."

And with that, Sanji went back down below deck.

* * *

**Next chapter will be mostly from Sanji's POV. Note to self: Obtain a floorplan of the Thousand Sunny...  
**


	6. A Day In Zoro's Boots

**Credit goes to Untied Fate who gave me the idea to have Franky build something to get Zoro hearing again, but as you'll probably notice, I'm no technical genius, so please forgive me. I really don't know much about **_**modern**_** cochlear implants, so this not quite modern type mentioned in the story isn't really well described... Still I would like to thank Untied Fate for the suggestion.**

**Even though I didn't use the Devil Fruit idea, I'd also like to thank Arisa4 for the mention of a DF to make Zoro hear again. It was a great idea, but I really wanted to use Franky.**

**I tried to write Franky well, so apologies if he didn't come out right.**

* * *

As he deboned several fish that he'd thawed from the freezer, Sanji began to wonder what daily life must be like for Zoro since his illness. The other's weren't helping him with trivial things anymore, and as a result, he was now better able to cope with his deafness.

Still Zoro seemed a bit... frustrated and... unhappy, as if he were dealing with this card in his life because it was what he'd been dealt, not because he wanted it. A card he'd rather not have in his hand, but he had no discard pile to place it into.

He could read lips and words, but not hear the sounds. He could talk individually to his nakama-tachi, but never as a group. He could feel music, but not hear it. His ears had stopped serving their original purpose. To Zoro, they were now just mere delicately curved flesh on which to display his earrings.

Sanji tried to imagine Zoro's silent daily life, and found that he couldn't. He couldn't really imagine what life was like for Zoro now. Then he got an idea that would help him live in Zoro's world, just for a day. He'd have a talk with the rest of the crew, then he'd implement his idea tonight.

* * *

The next day, Sanji was glad that his internal alarm was set to 4:30 am, because he wouldn't have heard the alarm of a physical clock and would have been late getting up to cook breakfast. The earplugs he'd inserted the night before and the thermal earmuffs he'd donned now were making his ears itch horribly, but he had to endure. He really, _really_ wanted to see things from Zoro's point of view. He wanted to understand Zoro as he was now.

He got up out of his hammock and went into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. The noises in his head were still there, and he could still hear his voice (he remembered Zoro saying he couldn't hear his own voice), but the sounds _outside_ his head were nearly non-existant. As he brushed his teeth, the everyday sound of water running into the sink was completely blocked out. Of course, that may have been because of the sound of brushing in his head, but he couldn't tell either way.

Finishing up, he took off his earmuffs and turned on the shower. As the water flowed down his back and over his shoulders, he thought about Zoro.

Zoro was taking things as well as he could, he supposed. And he actually welcomed Sanji's attempts to help him in battle. He wanted to live to defeat Mihawk, after all. Though Mihawk would probably now not want to fight someone whom he felt had a disability that would keep him from fighting at his full potential. But Sanji didn't see why Zoro's deafness would keep him from fighting well. Just because he couldn't hear didn't mean he should be underestimated!

Sanji grabbed the shampoo, squeezing some into his hand then rubbing it into his blond locks. He scrubbed quickly and thoroughly, cleansing his scalp, then massaging it through his hair. Then he rinsed and repeated. After this, he reached for the nearly full bottle of conditioner he'd borrowed off of Zoro. One wouldn't think it, but if Sanji didn't condition his hair, it would be a tangled mess after shampooing. Zoro never had a problem with tangles though, from what he'd told Sanji once. And he almost never needed to condition his hair when it was already so soft and supple to begin with. Sanji smiled. He envied Zoro his hair.

Grabbing his towel, he turned off the tap and dried off. The hot bath would have to wait for evening as it always did. He headed towards the mirror and combed out his hair. Whenever parted, it would always fall over one of his eyes. Sometime during the two years he was separated from his crew, he'd decided to part his hair differently so that his hair fell over the right eye instead of the left. It didn't seem to make much difference to him. It was a small but nice change.

He fitted the earmuffs back over his ears, then changed into one of his many black suits with a green shirt under the jacket. He opened the door and came face-to-face with a yawning, sleepy-eyed Zoro dressed in a tshirt and boxers.

"Hey Marimo," He greeted using Zoro's nickname, then, "Up a little early, aren't you?"

In his grogginess, Zoro blinked sleepily at the earmuffs, as if wondering why Sanji was wearing such a thing. Sanji saw the comprehension dawn on Zoro's face as he remembered the conversation from last night about _why_ Sanji was wearing the earmuffs.

Zoro sleepily grunted his greeting, before moving past Sanji into the now unoccupied bathroom. Sanji smiled. Unlike Zoro, who was most likely just going to go back to sleep (and then turn around and take several naps during the day), Sanji was up for the day, and wouldn't be going back to bed anytime soon.

As he strolled towards the kitchen, he noted the lack of little sounds, the type of noises that you don't really notice until you don't hear them anymore. Like the sound of his footsteps and the quiet creak of the wood making up the ship as it bobbed gently up and down among the waves.

The clinks and clanks of cookware as he took it out to cook, were a distant, muffled sound, as if someone were using the pots and pans in another room. As he prepared the food, and his nakama clamoured into the dining area of the kitchen as usual, at first Sanji found the lack of loud noise to be soothing, but after awhile, he kind of missed it. He could hear bits and pieces of the conversations when they'd get really loud, but for the most part, he felt isolated from the entire crew this way.

Is this how Zoro felt, day after day? He'd gone deaf over a month ago, and was only now getting used to it. Zoro had mentioned before that his deafness was complete; that he couldn't hear anything. Even with the earplugs, Sanji could hear _some_ things, but what was it like to not be able to hear _anything_?

A hand touched his shoulder and Sanji was startled out of his thoughts. It was Luffy, though it was difficult to understand what the rubberman was saying unless Sanji read his lips. Nami was saying something to him as well, and he nearly removed his earmuffs and plugs to hear her when he remembered that, for Zoro, there _were_ no earplugs to remove when he wanted to hear something. Zoro actually lived in that silent world and there was nothing he could do about it except continue to live there. So Sanji asked Nami to repeat what she said, reading it on her lips this time.

He sighed. This was going to be a long, hard day, but he needed to do this. Needed to do it for Zoro.

* * *

The crew hadn't run into the Navy today, and for that, Sanji was glad. He hadn't wanted to cut short his experiment, but he also hadn't wanted to try to fight as he was now, and leave Zoro unprotected. Not that he _would_ have left his nakama to fight for himself.

Everyone was getting ready for bed with the exception of Zoro, who'd already turned in for the night, and Franky who was in his workshop tinkering with something he was building. Something he'd been working on for weeks. Sanji took off the earmuffs and removed the earplugs that he'd had in for a whole twenty-four hours. The sudden increase in sound was almost too much at first, but it felt good to hear again.

He empathized with Zoro. Not being able to hear when he was once able to seemed to be a terrible thing for Zoro to go through. And the fact that it was probably permanent seemed even more horrible. Then Sanji got an idea. Maybe Zoro _could_ hear again!

Taking off his suit, he put on a tshirt and boxers as pajamas, then headed to Franky's workshop.

* * *

When Sanji entered Franky's workshop, he found the cyborg in the deepest concentration on, well... _whatever_ it was he was building. The 'whatever' was tiny too. Almost too small for the little yellow hands that were normally stored inside Franky's big hands and used only for intricate work, to work on.

"Franky," Sanji called out quietly so as not to disturb the cyborg. "I need to ask you something when you get a second."

Franky nodded as he worked. "Just let me bond these two parts... There!" He turned and took a guzzle from the cola bottle on the floor near his feet. "Alright, what's your question?"

"Well, I hate to disturb you, because I know you have work to do," Sanji began, as he moved closer. "But I need for you to maybe build something for Zoro's hearing loss. Maybe something that bypasses the defective parts of his ears and taps directly into his brain or something like that to somehow make him hear again."

Franky grinned hugely as he said, "I'm way ahead of you! I've been working on this for the past few weeks and it's almost ready." He showed Sanji the tiny object on the table. Now that Sanji could see, there were two of these tiny objects on the work surface, each indentical to the other. Franky went on.

"These," he indicated the objects he'd been working on. "Are gonna be surgically implanted deep inside his skull, in the part where the defective hearing mechanisms are. Well, if he agrees to the surgery. Then this," he indicated a much larger part. "goes over his head and around his ears. It'll send the soundwaves to the parts inside his head which bypass his natural hearing organs, allowing him to hear sounds again."

"I'm not sure I understood all of that," Sanji admitted. "But it'll be great if he can hear again. What's the timeframe for all of this once the devices are ready?"

"It'll be a delicate operation to install these," Franky explained, carefully picking up one of the tiny implants. "Then we'll have to wait until he heals from the surgery to try out the headset. The timeframe for that alone will be at least six weeks. It's gonna be a long process, and it'll be a few more weeks of fine tuning everything before he can hear normally again, but it'll work out in the end." Franky gave Sanji a thumbs-up before returning to what he was doing.

Sanji was both happy at the prospect of Zoro being able to hear again, and frustrated at how long it would take before they would see results. "Not to complain but, why is building this taking so long though? You can usually have things up and running in a matter of hours or days."

Franky's face was serious as he explained without looking up. "This is an extremely delicate process. We're not talking about ships and motors. One wrong thing could mean the difference between Zoro hearing again, or damaging something that will screw up that chance forever. Zoro hearing again hinges on getting everything just right. Everything has to be right."

Sanji mouthed a silent "Ohh." as he comprehended what Franky was saying.

"Anyway," Franky said as he took another guzzle of his cola. "Don't breathe a word of any of this to Zoro. I want this to be a surprise. I'll unveil it when it's time."

Sanji nodded. Inwardly, he was happy, but he didn't let it show to the cyborg just _how_ happy he was. He simply smiled. "My lips are sealed."

Franky grinned and went back to his work.


	7. Left Eye

**Does anyone know what actually happened to Zoro's eye? AFAIK, it hasn't been revealed yet. Here's my take on it.  
**

**A little more of Untied Fate's idea went into this chapter :-)**

* * *

"I've been meaning to ask you for a while," Sanji began as he and Zoro sat on the lawndeck snacking on takoyaki under the stars. "What happened to your left eye?"

Zoro swallowed the piece he was chewing. Reaching up to his face, he ran a finger down the length of the scar directly over his closed eyelid, recalling events of nearly two years ago.

"Shortly after being sent to Kuraigana Island, I encountered a species of baboon called Humandrils which, I was told, learned by mimicking human behaviour. One day, as I was battling the leader of them, one of his stupid followers distracted me... What happened next, I don't even really remember, but it hurt like hell and I'm lucky that all I lost was my eye."

"How long did it take you to defeat him? The leader, I mean," Sanji asked, taking a drag from his cigarette, then exhaling slowly, making sure to keep the smoke away from Zoro.

"It took a while," Zoro said, popping another piece into his mouth, chewing carefully. "In addition to being several times bigger than me, he'd also learned his moves straight from Mihawk himself. It took a lot of time and strategy to finally defeat him. Not to mention that when I first encountered him, I was still injured from the combination of the events of Thriller Bark and Shabondy... The scar makes it look like it wasn't a serious wound, but like I said, my eye couldn't be saved."

Sanji was quiet for a bit, thinking. Then he said, "After losing your eye, waking up after a lengthy illness only to find you'd lost your hearing... That must've been... Wow, I wouldn't even know how to feel about something like that."

"It took me a while to get used to only having the one eye, and not even the dominant one, to rely on," Zoro said as he speared another piece of the octopus dumpling. "But back then I had my ears to help. Now the one eye is all I have left." Zoro sighed as he popped the sphere into his mouth.

Sanji badly wanted to tell Zoro about Franky's invention for him, but Franky wanted it to be a surprise, and he'd promised that he wouldn't say anything.

"Anyway, this is just one more obstacle to overcome," Zoro said with conviction. "No matter what, I'm going to become the greatest swordsman in the entire world!"

"One day, the Strawhats will be known the world over as the greatest pirate crew ever to sail the Grand Line!" Sanji said, smiling at Zoro.

"Under Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King!" Zoro added, grinning back. They simultaniously speared the last two pieces of takoyaki on the plate.

"A toast then, to the Strawhat Crew!" Sanji said as they each held up their pieces. Then they tapped them together.

"And to the future Pirate King!" Zoro said as they tapped their pieces together again, then they stuck them in their mouths happily.

They were quiet for a long while, each enjoying the other's company. Then, out of the blue:

"You know, I've been wondering about something. Did Paulie eat the Rope Rope no Mi?" Zoro mused, as he gazed up into the growing cloud cover for a few seconds. "I mean, how could he produce such an insane amount of rope otherwise?" Zoro asked, turning to Sanji.

"What brought that up all of a sudden?" Sanji asked amused as he tapped the ashes off of his cigarette.

"I don't know. It's just something I've been thinking about," Zoro answered. "So do you think he did?"

"I don't even know if there _is_ such a fruit," Sanji conceded. He thought about the gruff Galley-La foreman and the massive amounts of rope that spewed from his sleeves. Could it have been an Akuma no Mi? He didn't know.

"But then again, no one ever asked him about it to my knowledge, so I guess we'll never know. At least, not until we pass Water 7 again."

"Iceburg will probably keel over when he sees Franky again," Zoro said putting his arms around one knee.

"Or be all starry-eyed like Robin-chan told me Usopp and Chopper were," Sanji said, crushing out his cigarette on the ground then putting the spent butt into his pocket. "Speak of the devil."

Zoro turned to where Sanji was looking, and came face to face with a grinning Franky. He yelped as he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Sorry about that, but guess what? I have a SUUUPPPEEEERR surprise for you!" Franky exclaimed enthusiastically, pointing at Zoro.

"What is it?" Zoro asked quietly as he tried to calm his racing heart.

"I can't tell you. I have to show you!"

Next to Zoro, Sanji smiled. It had been a few days since he'd talked to Franky about the mechanisms designed to make it so Zoro could hear again. He wanted to be there for the big unveiling.

"Well, okay, I guess it couldn't hurt." Zoro said as he got up and dusted off his long coat.

He and Sanji followed Franky down to his workshop.

* * *

Zoro had just about figured out what kind of surprise Franky had in store for him, and if it was what he thought it was, the prospect of it made him happy. The entire crew sat in chairs waiting for Sanji and Zoro. Sanji sat down in one of the chairs placed for the meeting, and Zoro sat next to him.

When everyone was seated, Franky got right to the point. "Guess what? I have a surprise for everyone! Well, it's mostly for Zoro, but it'll make everyone happy. Thanks to my SUUUPPPEEERRR building skills and Chopper's surgical expertise, Zoro's gonna be able to hear again!"

Zoro's eye widened in shock as the rest of the crew gasped in surprise then got up from their chairs, crowding around and congratulating Zoro. This made the swordsman uncomfortable, but he didn't let on about how he felt.

When everyone had settled down, Franky explained the functions and mechanics of each part and how everything would come together to allow Zoro's ears to once again perceive sound. While Zoro _seemed_ outwardly uninterested in this, his curiousity was piqued.

"The only two bad things about all of this is, one, after the surgery, it'll be several weeks of healing before we can try out and adjust the headset, so you'll still be Deaf for a while. " Franky solemnly told Zoro.

He'd already lived in his lonely, silent world for the last month or so, so he could wait a few more weeks.

"Two, the headset isn't waterproof and you'll need to remove it for sleeping. You won't be able to hear anything without it, kind of like how some people need glasses to see."

As long as he could hear while wearing it, Zoro didn't care. So what if it was the equivalent of glasses for his ears? At least he'd hear Sanji's voice again.

"So, do you consent to the surgery? If so, we can began tomorrow."

Zoro thought about it long and hard. In the back of his mind, he wondered whether all of this would work, and that he'd get his wish to hear again. But then again, he trusted Franky. The colorful cyborg had built the Thousand Sunny after all. He'd made all these self modifications with no harm to his body. So after a moment, Zoro answered, "I do."

A happy smile lit up Chopper's little reindeer face. "It's a little after 8:00 now. I'm stopping all food and liquids for the night. I'll wake you and prep you for surgery in the morning."

This felt a little too sudden for Zoro, but then he remembered that this was just the first step to bringing him back into the world of sound again. But he did object to one thing. "No food or drink anymore tonight?"

"Nothing to eat or drink. Not until after the surgery," Chopper warned. "You'll feel better afterwards if you don't."

Zoro did trust his favorite little reindeer, so he resolved himself to not eating or drinking anything else for the night.

"Get some sleep, Zoro," Chopper said quietly. "I'm going to be waking you early for surgery."


End file.
